Soothing
by Sweet Ashori
Summary: Another "what if?" scenario, from Episode 11. Lucy wakes up in the middle of the night, not because of the awkwardness of sleeping between Natsu and Gray, but of the frightening nightmare she had. She can't fall to sleep, accidentally waking Gray...GrayLu


Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.

Author's Note: Another GrayLu, yay! Again, it's another "what if?" moment that I think would've been cool to happen, this time during Episode 11 when Lucy, Gray, and Natsu spent the night on Galuna Island. I admit, this might be a little cheesy and OOC, so forgive me! However, please enjoy it all the same!

Soothing

Lucy Heartfilia couldn't sleep a wink.

Sure, she was partly used to sleeping on uncomfortable mattresses rolled out on the floor and rock-hard pillows from her times of staying in cheap hotels, but for one reason or another this time it was one reason in keeping her awake. Of course, sleeping between the fire-breathing Natsu and the strange-stripper Gray didn't ease her mind – after all, who could sleep between these two freaks?

However, that wasn't the big reason why she was awake at such a late hour, despite her self-rationalization that she needed to sleep for their mission tomorrow. No, the main reason was the nightmare she had, and the blinding violet moon that peeked through the cracks of the window shade. She could only see a dark creature, darker and scarier than the full form of Lullaby, being formed from that light, with its intent on destroying everyone that resided on Galuna Island. She watched as Gray and Natsu fought against the creature, and felt useless as she watched them die in an attempt to protect her... weak, little Lucy...

The mere thought, the visions, were frightening – while she had only been with Fairy Tail for a few weeks, she's learned to love almost every member of the guild, and due to their missions together had grown close to the two men that rested beside her. She thought she was so much stronger than her nightmare led her to believe, but against Lullaby she was terribly frightened...how would she do against a demon even worse than that? The thought weakened her confidence, her hands subconsciously reaching for the celestial keys that rested on her hip

With a yawn, Lucy sat up, pulling back her blanket and pulling her knees to her chest. "I give up," she whispered, "Obviously I'm not getting any sleep tonight."

She looked around her at her teammates, envious that they are able to sleep without a problem. Flashes of her nightmare came to her mental vision, and she frowned deeply. Leaning back on her elbows, her fingers brushed carefully through Natsu's bangs, the motion not even disturbing the fire mage. She chuckled to herself, finding him to be almost cute as he slept in total unaware.

Her nails tickled at Happy's fur, much to his unconscious happiness, before turning around and facing Gray. Like with Natsu, her fingers brushed through her hair, and for a moment she was stunned at how different their skin felt against her skin. Where Natsu's was firey warm, Gray's was cool and almost icy. How fitting for their conflicting magic and fighting styles.

"I do admire you guys. You are both so strong, and confident. Yet, total opposites...," the blonde Celestial Mage whispered, "I know I'm being silly, but if something like my nightmare comes true..."

She shook her head, pulling her hand back from Gray's hair, closing her eyes as she threatened to start crying. "No...no, I know better. You two are part of the strongest team in all of Fairy Tail. There's no way you guys would lose, no way you'd...you'd..."

"We'd what?"

Lucy squeaked out a gasp, falling back on her bed as the deep baritone voice seemingly echoed throughout the room. "G-gray!" she exclaimed out, her voice in a higher whisper than before, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's fine...kinda hard to sleep with that idiot's snoring."

Looking over her shoulder, Lucy mentally agreed – Natsu was pretty loud, "Yeah, I guess that's true."

"What on earth were you talking about, though? What would we do?" he questioned as he sat up, general curiosity getting the better of him, "I mean, there has to be some reason why you look like you're about to cry."

The blonde wiped her eyes, a little surprised to find them damp. "Oh...I just...I had a nightmare, that's all," she mumbled, "I guess I'm a little scared of what we may happen tomorrow. I mean, what if there's a stronger demon than Lullaby behind all of this? You two are really strong, but...but..."

"You're afraid we'll get hurt or die, right?" Gray finished for her, then smiled sympathetically as she nodded her head, "Yeah, I understand. I know where you're coming from, Lucy. Anything like that could be the cause. But look, we defeated Lullaby, right? If we could defeat that thing, we can defeat anything."

Lucy stared at Gray for a moment, then turned away to stare at her feet. "I know. But still..." she mumbled, curling her toes into the blanket, "I guess I can't help but being a little scared. After all, look at what that moon did to the people here."

The ice wizard didn't say a word, only frowning at his companion as she folded herself inward, her chin resting on her knees as her eyes stared blankly ahead. His hand itched towards her shoulder, wanting to give her some sort of comfort, but he hesitated. In the few weeks since Lucy had joined the guild, Gray had come to consider her a nice friend, albeit a strange one, but seeing her in this state...she looked almost like glass, like she would break in an instant.

Sighing, Gray grabbed at Lucy's wrist, pulling onto her back with him. She let out a loud squeal, and for a moment she swore she woke up their sleeping companions, then felt her breath hitch in her throat as she felt his arms wrap loosely around her petite waist. "G-gray! What are you doing!" she asked, almost frozen to the spot.

"Just relax, okay? You need sleep for tomorrow as well, and obviously you aren't going to get sleep the normal way. So just relax for now," he said, closing his eyes as he nuzzled his cheek further into the pillow, "I won't go anywhere without my nakama. I promise."

Lucy could feel her heart racing in her chest, so out of tune with the heartbeat that pounded against her back. Calming her breath, she closed her eyes, trying in some sort of way to get comfortable to the chilled skin that covered her.

Somehow, she managed to fall asleep, lulled by Gray's sleepy breathing in her ear, the soothing comfort of his words allowing her to dream sweet, pleasant dreams...

Ending SUCKS! Gah...I sowwies!

I plan to write a LoLu story next. I promise, that'll be better!


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